A new project is being launched today by the Energy Technologies Institute to examine in further detail the potential for storing hydrogen and hydrogen gas mixtures in salt caverns which can then be used in gas turbines when demand for electricity is high.

An ETI report published last year highlighted the potential role hydrogen storage could play in a clean, responsive power system. It detailed how using salt caverns to store hydrogen to be used for power generation reduces the level of investment required at a system level to build new clean power station capacity. The report showed how a single H2 cavern could cater for the peak energy demands and fluctuations of a whole city.

There are over 30 large salt caverns in use in the UK today storing natural gas for the power and heating market.

This latest ETI project will identify and examine three existing salt caverns in Cheshire, Teesside and East Yorkshire that could be used to store hydrogen to be used in power generation.

For more information on the project, including the request for proposals document, click through here.